Director Brian Mertes has shaken up the Trinity Rep season with his stunning production of "Crime and Punishment," a dreamy, stream of consciousness take on Dostoyevsky's beloved masterpiece

Director Brian Mertes has shaken up the Trinity Rep season with his stunning production of "Crime and Punishment," a dreamy, stream of consciousness take on Dostoyevsky's beloved masterpiece.

This 90-minute adaptation is the work of Trinity's creative head Curt Columbus and Marilyn Campbell. And it sizzles, with live video streams on monitors stationed about the set and actors playing Rachmaninoff on an electronic keyboard.

When commissioned a decade ago, the show was intended to be something of a theatrical spectacular with a cast of thousands. But when Columbus, a Russian scholar, got involved with the project, he insisted it be pared down to just three actors.